Pain and Patient-Reported Physical Function Did Not Differ Among Body Composition Profiles in Patients With Hip...

To explore whether higher body fat and lower lean mass are associated with greater pain and worse patient-reported physical function in individuals with hip osteoarthritis (OA). A secondary aim was to examine whether pain and patient-reported physical function differ according to four body composition profiles: high body fat, low lean mass, both, or neither.

This cross-sectional study analyzed baseline data from two randomized controlled trials involving 160 individuals with symptomatic hip OA (mean ± SD age 61.4 ± 6.2 years; 65% were female). Body fat mass percentage and appendicular lean mass (ALM) were assessed using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Participants were categorized into four body composition profiles: high body fat (n = 86), low lean mass (n = 11), combined (n = 8), or neither (n = 55). Pain and patient-reported physical function were assessed using the Numeric Rating Scale and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA Index, respectively. Associations between body composition measures and symptom outcomes were examined using linear regression, and differences across body composition profiles were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance.

Neither body fat mass percentage nor ALM was significantly associated with pain or patient-reported physical function. No significant differences in pain or patient-reported physical function were observed across body composition profiles.

Body composition was not associated with pain or patient-reported physical function in this cross-sectional sample of individuals with hip OA. Future research could incorporate more precise measures of muscle mass and explore functional phenotypes, including those based on muscle strength, to better understand symptom burden.